FROM glamping in Sweden to the old-style glamour of the Italian coast and a French island retreat, we take you on a tour de force.
Discover the pretty resort of Sestri Levante
Liguria, Italy
I didn’t fancy interrailing in Europe as a student – it sounded too much like hard work, and frankly a bit dangerous. Seeing Italy in luxury sounded much more the ticket...
The trip began at London’s St Pancras station, where a Eurostar train took me to the Gare du Nord in Paris in three hours. A quick bus transfer to the Gare de Lyon and I was on the way to the main attraction of the coastal area of Liguria, via Turin.
The train journey from Paris to Turin takes five hours, but in such a spacious, comfortable, first-class carriage that the time really flies. I can’t remember arriving at a destination feeling so relaxed and it was such a change from the angst of an antiseptic airport.
Turin is an elegant city, with all the style you’d expect from somewhere that was once briefly the capital of Italy 150 years ago. It’s the home of Christ, cars and chocolate – the newly opened exhibition of the Turin shroud is a must-see and the Fiat motor company is based in the city.
The Baratti & Milano café, just off Piazza Castello and dating from 1875, is a great place to buy beautifully presented chocolates and enjoy a bicerin, the wicked local speciality of espresso, chocolate and cream.
It’s another two and a half hours to the coast of Liguria and the resort of Sestri Levante, a favourite location for Italian tourists. Hans Christian Andersen also stayed there in 1833 and The Bay of Fables was named after him.
I stayed in the Villa Balbi, dating back to the 17th century and still offering classic style and service. Set in small but beautifully maintained gardens, it’s right on the beach and provides a perfect base from which to visit the Cinque Terre, the five lovely villages on the rugged coast – Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore, plus the resort of Portofino. Local trains operate all along the coast and are a lovely, lazy way to take in the sights.
The land on the coast is terraced down to the sea, growing grapes that make excellent local white wines, as well as olives. Pesto is the local foodie speciality and you can get a lesson in making it yourself at the Polpo Mario restaurant in Sestri Levante.
The postcard-pretty village of Portofino has always been a favourite with celebrities over the years, including Garbo, Bogart and Bacall, and it was a joy to sit at a café by the sea and soak up the old-fashioned glamour of the place.
On to Liguria – a terrific base for a sensual holiday of eating, drinking and working it all off with leisurely walks across beautiful, steep coastal paths. A tour of Genoa included a visit to the Klainguti patisserie for a coffee and a Falstaff – a hazelnut-filled pastry named after customer Verdi’s opera. Told you it was classy.
Clair Woodward
Great Rail Journeys (01904 527180, greatrail.com) offers a 10-day escorted trip to the Italian Riviera staying at the Hotel Concord in Turin and the Hotel Villa Balbi (villabalbi.it/en/), Sestri Levante, from £1,695pp. Rail Discoveries (01904 734812,raildiscoveries.com) offers a nine-day escorted trip from £1,095pp. Visitturismoinliguria.it for more on Liguria.
Relax on the idyllic island of Ile de Ré
Ile de Ré, France
Patchy Wi-Fi, restricted access for cars and bread without a long shelf life may all sound like a recipe for twitch-inducing stress in everyday life, but on holiday, it’s the perfect relaxation prescription.
Nowhere can match the laid-back charms of the stunning island of Ile de Ré, off the Atlantic coast of France. It truly is as close to a haven as modern holidays get.
For a start, the fee (16.50 euros) you pay to access the only bridge on to the island is a useful deterrent against day trippers and consequently car traffic is kept to a moderate level. We got a taxi from the airport in La Rochelle then hired bikes and cycled everywhere.
The island’s size, at 30km long, means that you can easily reach a new town or beach on a day out, and thanks to extensive,well-maintained cycle paths, it’s safe for families to potter along at their own pace.
Every day you could explore a new part of the island with beautiful vineyards, waterways, salt marshes and coastlines to discover. Stop at a local market to pick up fresh cheese, meats, bread and fruit then head to one of the many unspoilt beaches for a picnic and laze in the sun. For dinner, local restaurants offer a meal of freshly harvested local oysters and catch of the day, washed down with the house wine – all for about 20 euros. It’s great value and all so easy.
Ars-en-Ré and La Flotte en Ré have been crowned as two of the most beautiful villages in France and if you can muster the energy, explore the salt marshes around Loix by canoe. The island’s two beaches of note – Le Bois-Plage and Couarde – both have fine, yellow sand, gentle slopes and stretch as far as the eye can see.
We stayed at the beautiful Villa Retaise in the village of Saint Martin de Ré, a four-bedroomed bungalow that sleeps up to eight people, complete with a heated pool. It’s less than five minutes’ walk for the morning croissants and the town has a pretty harbour ringed by cafés.
There are also b&bs, small hotels and even a campsite on the island if these are more your thing. But in all cases, nothing has been allowed to grow too big in Ile de Ré so its charms are protected at all costs. Perfect.
Charlotte Bradshaw
Villa Retaise with four bedrooms, four bathrooms (sleeps between six and eight) and a heated pool costs up to £200 a night. Visit homeaway.co.uk for a choice of properties.
The Swedish wood makes a tranquil setting for Treehotel’s stylish Blue Cone
Swedish treehouse
“So, do you want to stay in the UFO, the Bird’s Nest or the Mirrorcube?” This was a conversation we had in the middle of a picturesque Swedish wood on the edges of the Arctic Circle. These are some of the outlandish tree houses at Treehotel.
I opted for the Blue Cone (actually red and more of a hut than a cone) and it turned out that I made the right choice. While the other treehouses are well-appointed and fun – the flying saucer is particularly geared towards children – the Blue Cone goes beyond glamping and is actually rather spacious.
A view of a wooded valley can be enjoyed from the main bedroom through a picture window and you may even glimpse the Northern Lights through circular windows in the roof.
With a reindeer skin on the wall and some simple Scandi furniture, it’s certainly my idea of getting away from it all.
Out in the forest, there’s no end of adventures to be found. When it’s snowy, you can go on dog sled rides through the arctic landscape, ice fishing, snowshoe walking or on an excursion to a reindeer farm, while spring and summer weather are perfect for horse riding, cycling or relaxing alfresco in a wood-fired bathtub for two in the woods.
With the weather fairly temperate during our stay, we went foraging through the woods for lingonberries, learned the way to build a fire from nothing and how to work out how far off a moose is by examining droppings and tracks.
But the real action came later, zip-lining from way up there in those trees. After a quick training session – and this being Sweden, safety is very much to the fore – we found ourselves scaling trees that didn’t actually seem very tall from down there...
After all the excitement, beech bark vodka was called for, accompanied by some reindeer meat (not for me, a very well-looked after veggie). We then took our party to a little cabin where there were showers, saunas, a fridge full of beers and a little outside deck where you can sit and chat and hope against hope for some Northern Light action.
Extraordinary accommodation and an extraordinary holiday.
Simon Gage
Scott Dunn organises a range of luxury tailor-made trips to Sweden, which can include a stay at the Treehotel, plus various activities, private transfers and return flights. Call 020 3411 8425 or visit scottdunn.com for more information.
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